Grille



March 3, 1953 PETERSON 2,630,054

GRILLE Filed March 29, 1946 Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRILLE John E. Peterson, Downers Grove, Ill., asslgnor to Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn a corporation of Delaware Application March 29, 1946, Serial No. 658,311

1 Claim.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grille which includes grille bars or blades-that serve as deflector or diffuser blades, the blades being formed of sheet metal and bendable at the time of installation to various required angles for securing a desirable lateral air distribution pattern from the grille.

A further object is to provide a grille which supports the volume control dampers andalso supportsstack head turning vanes so that the grille, damper blades and turning vanes constitute a unitary structure that provides for; the desired vertical and lateral distribution of -the air and for control of the volume of air through the register in relation to other registers in an air delivery system either of the hot air type or through the diffuser blades as in the usual'flat type of grille and furthermore permitting such angularity of the diffuser blades particularly at the sides of the grille for the purpose of deflecting a portion of the air stream so that it will surface in which the grille is mounted.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts ofmy grille whereby the objects contemplated arelattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of a grille embodying my .40 leave the grille substantially parallel to the wall invention and showing it mounted on a wall; the wall being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the grille with portions broken away to conserve space.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the diffuser blades in the right half of the grille set at a different angle than those in the left half of the grille whereby a nonsymmetrical lateral air distribution pattern is had.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 showingthe; grille and volume control dampers supportedthereby in relation to a duct end.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 4 showing the addition of turning vanes to the" grille and damper-blades, thereby providing a complete register.

Fig. 6 is a plan view on a reduced scale showing a non-symmetrical lateral air distribution pattern resulting from the adjustment of the diffuser blades to the positions of Fig. 3 and showing by dotted lines a symmetrical pattern.

Fig. 7 is a similar plan view showing a symmetrical pattern in which a diffusion pattern is provided for discharge into the end of a long room insteadof into the side of a narrow room or hall as in Fig. 6.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference character W to indicate a wall and G my grille mounted on the wall. The grille G comprises a sheet metal stamping havinga peripheral frame comprising upper and lower horizontal members [0 and I2 and vertical members l4. Upper and lower flanges l6 and I8 extend forwardly or into the room as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and between the flanges l6 and I8 diffuser blades 20 are mounted. These may be suitably secured to the flanges l6 and I8 and are preferably formed of sheet metal so that they can be bent to various angles, those in the right half of Fig. 3, for'instance, being different than those in the left half.

The grille G also includes upper and lower" edges. The damper-blades D are adapted to be opened as in Fig.3 or closed as shown by dotted lines when air through the grille is undesirable.

Suitable linkage may be provided for this purpose, but forms no part of my present invention and accordingly has not been illustrated. One form of such linkage, however, is disclosed in the copending application of Hermanson and Joesting, Serial No. 656,274 filed March 22. 1946.

The blades D are adapted to be equally opened as shown, for instance in Fig. 5, by interconnecting linkage such as that disclosed in the above mentioned copending application. In an installation of my grilles, the maximum open position of each grille is balanced by the heating or air conditioning engineer in relation to all other grilles in the system. Thus the desired air flow for each room supplied by the system is assured.

In connection with the grille and damper combination, I provide turning vanes V (see Fig. 5) which are curved sheet metal blades supported at one or both ends by one or a pair of brackets 28. The brackets 23 are suitably secured to the side flanges as which connect the ends of the upper and lower flanges 22 and 24 together. Thus the assembly of grille, damper blades, and turning vanes is a unitary structure and mounted as such in the wall W by means of the simple expedient of two screws 32 as shown in Fig. 3.

This simplifies the installation of the grille, damper, and vane combination which may be termed a register inasmuch as only a single unit need be mounted in the duct after the duct has been installed and the wallsplastered. The duct is shown at 34 and has a right angle bend or stack head indicated at 35 in which the turning vanes V are located.

The diiiuser blades as being bendable, as al-- ready mentioned, may be adjusted at the time of installation as to the positions shown in Fig. 3 when it is desirable to get wide lateral air distri bution from the right half of the grille as in Fig. 6 and less diffusion from the left half. This is particularly adaptable for a'room having a wall 38 closer to the grille than the opposite wall sothat a non-symmetrical diffusion pattern 39 is had or in the case of a long narrow hall having a wall 48, the blades 23 in the left half may be adjusted similar to those in the right half forsecuring lateral diffusion in both directions and a symmetrical pattern as shown by the dotted lines 42.

On the other hand in a narrow room where the grille is mounted at the end of the room and the walls M and 56 are relatively close together, the desirable pattern may be as indicated at 48 in 7 and in that case the blades 2i) in both halves of the grille would be positioned at the angles shown in the left half of Fig. 3.

My grille has a number of advantages as dis tinguished from. the flat type of prior art devices. In a flat grille the diiiusion blades, when set to get some lateral air distribution, tend to reduce the discharge area as there-is'actually less area through the blades because they are distributed over only the duct area whereas by extending the grille as in Fig; 3 the area over which the blades is distributed isincreased.

Also the blades adjacent the sidesof the grille are arranged in a curved pattern that bends toward the wall and permits of a greater number of blades for each unit of duct. area. at the sides of the grille where more blades are. required for lateral distribution asdistinguished from only slight diffusion of the air stream adjacent the center of the grille. This permits of directing the air stream into wide angularities with less resistance to the air flow.

Adjacent the sides of the grille the blades 20 are comparable with turning vanes and can be set so as to secure wide lateral distribution as indicated by the patterns 39 and 42 in Fig. 6. The discharge area is affected only slightly and there is no appreciable increase in resistance as in the case of a fiat register.

A grille and diffuser blade combination of the kind disclosed permits of wide adjustability of air stream angularities and permits controlling the air stream pattern to fit almost any room condition. It also reduces drafts in the occupied zone and yet secures a maximum of air distribution with a minimum of stratification.

The dampers D can be adjusted so that their wide open position is the maximum as in Fig. 4, or some position less than maximum as in Fig. 5 tov take care of the size of the room and the air pressure at each individual grille. The dampers thus permit balancing of the air flow and temperature from each grille in relation to every other grille in the system and eliminate the necessity of. volume dampers in the basement. My arrangement also simplifies installation and adjustment and thereby effects a saving due to reduction of installation labor.

The turning vane arrangement reduces air resistance and gains maximum efiiciency at the stack head. The van s also provide formaximum efiiciency in vertical air distribution from the register. the duct work whereas the installation of a duct in an ordinary wall does not permit slow turns due to space limitations.

The grille G may be used alone orin combination with the vanes V. The grille can also be used with or without the volume control dampers- D and constitutes a register when the dampers are used. The entire unit is thereby adaptable for various types of installations by usingall the three parts (the grille; the dampers, and the turning vanes) or the grille alone orthe grille with the dampers or with the turning vanes.

some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my grille without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to shape .with respect to said frame portion, a plurality ofjrelatively narrow and adjustable diffuser blades vertically arranged between the outer edges of said upper and lower fiangessaidfianges and blades thus forming a, convex grille, upper and lower horizontally disposed flanges attached to said grille and extending rearwardly beyond said wall attachment frame portion, vertically disposed flanges connecting said horizontally disposed rearwardly extending flanges, a pair of upper and lower horizontally disposed. damper blades each having a rear edge pivotally attached to a rearmost portion of one of said reaiwvardly extending flanges, said blades extending forward from the pivotal attachments sufiiciently to, ex:- tend into the space outlined by said convex grille when they are in their open position, and turning vanes attached to brackets arranged behind They also permit sharp turns insaid damper blades, said brackets being attached to said vertically disposed flanges.

JOHN E. PETERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Number Name Date Hinrich Aug. 20, 1929 Werme Feb. 17, 1931 Anderson Mar. 30, 1937 Leigh Nov. 19, 1944) Heasley et a1 Sept. 9, 1941 Peple, Jr. May 5, 1942 Sternberg July 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1891 Great Britain July 13, 1939 Switzerland Mar. 31,1935 

